
Drunk
How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization
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Narrated by:
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Tom Parks
A "entertaining and enlightening" deep dive into the alcohol-soaked origins of civilization—and the evolutionary roots of humanity’s appetite for intoxication. (Daniel E. Lieberman, author of Exercised)
While plenty of entertaining books have been written about the history of alcohol and other intoxicants, none have offered a comprehensive, convincing answer to the basic question of why humans want to get high in the first place.
Drunk elegantly cuts through the tangle of urban legends and anecdotal impressions that surround our notions of intoxication to provide the first rigorous, scientifically grounded explanation for our love of alcohol. Drawing on evidence from archaeology, history, cognitive neuroscience, psychopharmacology, social psychology, literature, and genetics, Slingerland shows that our taste for chemical intoxicants is not an evolutionary mistake, as we are so often told. In fact, intoxication helps solve a number of distinctively human challenges: enhancing creativity, alleviating stress, building trust, and pulling off the miracle of getting fiercely tribal primates to cooperate with strangers. Our desire to get drunk, along with the individual and social benefits provided by drunkenness, played a crucial role in sparking the rise of the first large-scale societies. We would not have civilization without intoxication.
From marauding Vikings and bacchanalian orgies to sex-starved fruit flies, blind cave fish, and problem-solving crows, Drunk is packed with fascinating case studies and engaging science, as well as practical takeaways for individuals and communities. The result is a captivating and long overdue investigation into humanity's oldest indulgence—one that explains not only why we want to get drunk, but also how it might actually be good for us to tie one on now and then.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2021 by Edward Slingerland. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
"Absorbing...Slingerland makes a compelling case that human societies have been positively shaped by alcohol.”―The Wall Street Journal
“A spirited look at drinking”―Kirkus
“A witty and well-informed narrator, Slingerland ranges across a wide range of academic fields to make his case. Readers will toast this praiseworthy study.”―Publishers Weekly
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The narrator, unfortunately, is obviously reading throughout the presentation, as evidenced by his constant over-enunciation of prepositions (especially “to”) and other short words which should be slightly slurred/blurred into following words when speaking naturally.
Great content; mediocre narrator
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Brilliant and illuminating
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A balanced, well-researched account of alcohol
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Strong focus on sex
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A thorough overview of history of alcohol and it’s effects on civilization
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Interesting to listen to but not over the top.
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Oh Dionysus,
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A bit academic with a novel perspective
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I found Slingerland's book to be well-balanced and well-researched. I spent a good deal of time in the Notes and Bibliography sections researching various social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and psychopharmacology literature. Although Slingerland argues that alcohol serves a functional role in human cultural life (to be more creative, culturally connected, and communally trusting), he does dedicate 20% of the book to Alcohol Use Disorder (alcoholism) and the real dangers of drinking to excess. Whether you agree with Slingerland's contention or not, the case studies described in this book are interesting in of themselves. This book sets out to understand why humans become intoxicated and is successful in doing so.
Alcohol and Creativity
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Highly recommended
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